The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Research Experience for Undergrads (REU) was an incredibly enriching experience. In the summer of 2025, I worked with Dr. Cheng-Chien Chen to generate first-principles data for machine learning force field (MLFF) simulations of high entropy alloys (HEAs). Through this work, I learned to perform density functional theory calculations, automate data sampling with python programming and Linux shell scripting, as well as work with high-performance supercomputers. Following the REU, I was invited to present my work at the 92nd Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society (SESAPS) Annual Meeting, held at the James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. In the conference I was able to learn about the current directions in various physics fields, develop network in the physics community, and exchange ideas with colleagues.
Participating in the SESAPS conference allowed me to visit presentations from senior physicists and fellow scientists which taught me techniques to improve my research. For example, seeing talks from experimental labs researching HEAs provided crucial insight on evaluation metrics relevant to the community. This insight will guide how I evaluate the MLFF models I develop. Additionally, the conference provided a platform upon which my work could be recognized by the community. My poster was one of the three that received an Undergraduate Poster Presentation Award-Honorable Mention from SESAPS, out of the fifty-five undergraduate posters at the conference. None of this would have been possible without the support from the UAB REU program through the National Science Foundation (NSF).
UAB is dedicated to building researchers from the ground up, and its REU provided the foundation to the process of doing scientific work. Thanks to UAB’s continued support, I was able to build upon that foundation in this conference, and I am grateful for the learning opportunities. Finally, I want to express my gratitude to the UAB NSF-REU Program Director Dr. Yogesh Vohra, for his invitation and support, as well as to UAB Physics graduate student Sean Anderson and Dr. Chen, for guiding me along the path towards a research career.
